Reality check - man's over inflated ego causes him to think he can bully a 12,000 lb animal into doing his will - Elephant decides not to take anymore shit and turns his handler into a red smear on the ground.

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Tragedy struck the temple in when temple elephant trampled its mahout G Gajendran, to death on the temple premises in full view of shocked devotees on Friday morning.

The 12-year-old female elephant crushed the 42-year-old mahout under its legs at 11 am when devotees were moving towards the sanctum sanctorum for worship. “Masini was brought to the temple at 10.50 am by Gajendran. In the next ten minutes, it turned violent and pushed the mahout to the ground and trampled him. His body was taken out later,” superintendent of police, Trichy district, Zia Ul Haq told TOI. Police said that devotees ran helter-skelter to safeguard themselves and in the chaos two women and a child were injured. Temple employees closed the gates of the area to prevent a rampage by the elephant.

A video of the elephant trampling the mahout is also in circulation. The video shows Masini stamping Gajendran multiple times, while someone raises an alarm. The incident triggered panic among the people in and around the temple. “Masini was generally very calm and cooperative. I wonder what provoked it to go out of control. The mahout usually brings it to the temple in the morning and takes it back to its shelter by night,” said a local resident, V P Muniappan.

On getting information, a team led by regional joint director of animal husbandry, Trichy Dr A Murugan rushed to the temple. He said that Masini got furious after someone allegedly pulled some hair from its tail, when it was blessing a couple who got married in the temple. The attempts of the mahout to calm the elephant down failed and it vented its anger on him.

Forest department officials brought a kumki elephant to the temple to control Masini. While a team of veterinarians was about to administer tranquiliser, some mahouts managed to calm the elephant. Masini was then chained in a room inside the temple. Authorities planned to take Masini back to its shelter on Friday night with the help of the kumki elephant.

Darshan was suspended following the tragedy and is expected to resume on Saturday. Samayapuram police registered a case based on a complaint by an eyewitness, G Achutan, 19. Preliminary investigations revealed that the elephant was not chained on Friday. Gajendran’s body was taken to Srirangam government hospital for post-mortem. He was a resident of Mahalikudi near Samayapuram and is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter.

Source:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.timesofindia.com/city/trichy/samayapuram-temple-elephant-tramples-its-mahout-to-death/amp_articleshow/64325474.cms